ABSTRACT
Until now we have only been interested in designing codes that correct randomly distributed errors. However there exist channels in which errors are likely to occur very close to each other. For example, a possible source of noise in a compact disc is a scratch across the disc: all digits occurring at the scratch may be either altered or erased causing a group of errors to occur close together. Also, sunspots are a factor in disrupting messages sent from satellites to earth, so once such activity starts in the sun we can expect several errors to occur close together. We call many errors occurring together in this fashion a burst of errors.
